Alex The Lion
Alex The Lion Is the main protagonist in the Madagascar franchise. He is an African lion who was shortly raised in an African wildlife reserve, before being captured by poachers, and eventually end up being sent to the Central Park Zoo becoming one of the most popular exhibits in the zoo. He is the protagonist of the films, appears in a single special episode in The Penguins of Madagascar, and as a cameo in All Hail King Julien ''And [[Bartley's Tower|''Bartley's Tower]] Biography Alex was the self-proclaimed king of the New York Central Park Zoo. As a cub, Alex was born on an African wildlife reserve and named Alakay. He was the son of the alpha lion, Zuba, and was constantly given lessons on hunting, although he displayed no interest in the activity. He would instead dance around rather than pounce on the toy his father used to train him. During one of the sessions, Alex was captured by poachers; and in an attempt to save his son, Zuba pursues the poachers' truck. He rips off the safety harness but was shot in the ear, falling off the truck. As the truck turned, the crate Alex was contained in fell into a river (due to the damaged safety harness) and began floating away. This may have given him the fear of the sea, or thalassophobia, as evidenced in the first film. Alex arrives in New York on April 8th, 1972, after floating over the Atlantic Ocean in his transport crate. He was later brought to the Central Park Zoo and proved to be very popular with the public. Madagascar After Marty leaves the zoo in an effort to take a train to the wild, Alex, Gloria, and Melman pursue him and were all shot with tranquilizer darts by humans. Animal-rights activists pressure the zoo into releasing them back into the wild, but on the ship back to the reserves located in Kenya, Alex and his friends fall into the ocean when the Penguins take over the ship. They eventually wash ashore on the beaches of Madagascar, and while Marty is excited to be free, Alex wishes to go home but later changes his mind. He grows very hungry after days of being unable to eat, not realizing that steak is animal flesh, and starts to regain his hunting instincts. Hunger drives Alex into a crazed state, which causes him to hallucinate everyone as steak and tries to eat Marty. After realizing what he did to Marty, Alex barricades himself in the predator area of the island. Marty pursues him, unwilling to leave his friend, but is attacked by the fossas, the native predators of Madagascar. After overcoming his hunting instincts, Alex works to defend Marty, and was later given sushi by the Penguins to satisfy his hunger. Madagascar: Espace 2 Africa Before Alex (whose birth name is revealed to be Alakay) encounters his parents, Zuba and Florrie who were overjoyed to see their son, he re-encounters Nana the old lady, and starts fighting but later allowing Nana to win so he could acquire her purse so he may use her cell phone and attempt to reach an operator. Zuba assumes that Alex is strong after hearing that he is the "King of New York" and arranges a rite of passage into the pride. Makunga, Zuba's rival, persuades Alex to challenge Teetsi during Alex's rite of passage. Teetsi was revealed to be a bulky and strong lion and Alex quickly loses. In order to keep from banishing Alex, Zuba transfers his control to Makunga, and in turn Alex, Florrie, and himself were banished. Zuba was mad at Alex after realizing that he is not a fierce warrior. The next day, the watering hole is shown to have been dried up, and Alex leaves with Marty to find out the cause of it. They leave the safety of the reserve, prompting Zuba to follow Alex and bring him back. Alex later discovers that stranded New York tourists had created a dam. They were at first hostile towards him and Zuba, but through the use of dancing, he was easily recognised by the tourists. With the help of the others, the dam was destroyed and they safely returned to the reserve. His father learns to respect his habits, and they decided to stay in Africa instead of flying home with the penguins.